With their likeness to tissue paper flowers, cistuses are almost to perfect to be real. They have showy, saucer shaped blooms that only last a day, but which appear for several weeks in summer. Cistus 'Peggy Sammons' has clear pink flowers and oval grey green leaves. It never grows too big, only being about three feet tall with a five foot spread when mature, so is good in beds around a terrace or in pots. Like all cistuses, it is lime tolerant but will suffer in very chalky soil. Grow in moderately fertile, well drained soil in full sun and sheltered from cold winds. Pinch back the stems after flowering to encourage bushiness.
Propagation: Root softwood or greenwood cuttings in summer. |
Not all lupins are herbaceous: the genus contains evergreen subshrubs and shrubs, too. Lupinus arboreus grows to about eight feet high and wide, and is a vigorous semi-evergreen shrub whose foliage is as charming as its flowers. The leaves have silky shoots and are a delicate grey green. The half inch pale yellow, pea-like flowers appear from late spring to early summer, in loose but erect twelve inch racemes, and have a pleasant scent. The flowers are sometimes blue instead of yellow. As this shrub comes from dry Californian hillsides and cliffs, it should be grown in moderately fertile, light, sandy and slightly acid soil in full sun or partial shade.
Propagation: Sow seed in spring or autumn. |
This sweetly scented climber is woody and semi-evergreen. Vigorous and twining, it has mid-green, pinnate leaves and flat topped flowerheads of white blooms, less than an inch in size, from midsummer to early autumn. Jasminum officinale reaches about 20 feet when mature, so is perfect for climbing over trellis, fences, arches, walls or even a large shrub. It needs to be grown in a sheltered position in cooler areas, in fertile, well drained soil in full sun. For those who like variegated plants. Jasminum officinale 'Argenteovariegatum' has creamy white leaf margins, Jasminum officinale 'Aureovariegatum', yellow margined leaves.
Propagation: Take semi-ripe cuttings in summer or layer in autumn. |
